Minimum needed to work as a photographer

[sclewin]

Just out of curiosity. What would be the bare minimum requirements one should have before selling their services as a photographer to people? I mean education, experience, and equipment.

[Marko]

Hi Sclewin,

I'd say you need to be competent. How you get your education is up to you, but you should know what you are doing and NOT learn on the job at someone else's expense. You should be able to feel comfortable and make your client feel comfortable that you know what you are doing. You should be able to reproduce common lighting schemes with ease. You should not have to guess what you are doing, you should know what u are doing.

I can go to a dollar store or and art store and buy a paintbrush, that does not make me a painter...but because 'painting' like photography is UNregulated I can indeed call myself a photographer, a painter even if i have ZERO experience or talent...

I'd say go with personal ethics here, don't take jobs if you have no experience doing them. Don't take jobs if you don't know the basics of lighting, composition, printing, exposure etc.

Minimum equipment....it's not about the equipment at all...Buuuuut, I'd say any 8 megapixel DSLR in the hands of a competent photographer will do the trick for most jobs along with at least a couple of grand in lenses and another couple of grand in additional accessories (tripod, filters, lighting etc.)

Hope that helps,

Marko